Rockman vs the Transformers
by Hardy Har Har
Summary: A matchup that's been long in coming! When Wily's robots stumble upon the Decepticons that Optimus Prime and his Autobots have been searching for, it's a no holds barred battle where trickery and deciet are the order of the day! R
1. Crashman's Folly

Rockman vs. the Transformers

Doctor Albert Wily, the most feared man in the history of the world, looked out of the super- reinforced glass of the window before him. It was tinted on the outside, so no one could see him. It didn't really matter, since the window was a combination of glass and titanium so thick that even a freight train would have some difficulty getting through.

It wasn't as if Wily wanted to keep a low profile either. If anyone saw the building he was in, they'd know right away that he was in there. The big skull on the front of the fortress and his unique 'Dr. W' symbol kind of gave it away. Still, the fortress was shielded on hundreds of levels, making it impossible to find unless you were looking for it on foot.

Wily stood in the room in silence for a while before looking over his shoulder. When he saw nothing, he looked out the window again. This went on every few minutes for about an hour. The next time Wily looked behind him, he was almost surprised to see the robot he was expecting.

"Shadowman, remind me to tie a bell to your foot," Wily said impassively, walking away from the window and past the ninja-like robot.

"Yes, lord Wily," Shadowman replied dispassionately.

"Well," Wily asked, sitting down in an old leather chair he had from the days when he was still working with Thomas Light, "What do you have?"

Shadowman looked around the room. He was a cautious robot, which was good for the infiltration purposes he was built for, but it did make him a little annoying to deal with one on one like this. He was always checking to make sure no one was eavesdropping. When he was satisfied, he looked at Wily.

"To tell the truth, Lord Wily, I would not have believed it if I had not seen it with my own optics."

Wily sighed. "Okay. So, WHAT DID YOU SEE?"

Shadowman checked around again, then, in a hushed, conspiratorial tone, he said "It's big."

Wily rolled his eyes.

"No, Lord Wily, I mean it. Really, REALLY big."

"Yes, Shadowman, I was expecting big. I've never done anything _small_. What exactly was it you saw?" Wily asked in a strained voice.

"Bigger than Hardman, big."

"GET ON WITH IT!" Wily shouted.

Shadowman jumped at the sound of Wily's voice, then collected himself. "It was just like you said. A deep cave with a metallic wall in the back. There were definite markings on the side that indicated friction damage, most likely from some sort of crash landing. The metal was very old, possibly pre-dating what you may know as 'Pre-History,' which is quite possibly the most inane human term I've ever heard of-"

"Shadowman, if you could finish before the sun sets, that would be lovely," Wily said in a remarkably controlled manner.

"Oh, yes, sorry Lord Wily."

There was a silence, and Wily leaned forward, his chair creaking ominously.

"Well?" He hinted. "What was behind the wall?"

Shadowman gave Wily a blank stare. "Behind . . . ?"

Wily hung his head. "WHAT PART OF 'INVESTIGATE' DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND, YOU NINJA NINNY?" he shouted at the floor.

Shadowman cringed, ever-so-slightly.

Wily stood up, red in the face, ranting at his robot. "When I asked you to investigate, I did NOT mean 'Go and find out if what I told you is true'! It means 'Go and find out more and report back to me'! Ye gods, WHY oh WHY did I EVER rebuild ANY of you glorified tin cans? I could have given a garbage can legs, eyes, and the artificial IQ of a bag of cherries and had better results! It's bad enough that Forte is always failing in his ONLY mission in life ALL THE DAMN TIME and that he feels he has to write poetry about it! WHERE DID I GO WRONG? He's writing Haiku for god's sake! HAIKU! ABOUT THAT LITTLE BLUE DWEEB! HAIKU, SHADOWMAN! For the love of evil, WHAT DID I DO WRONG?"

Shadowman got that feeling everyone, human or robot gets, when there's just no right answer. "Er . . . I do not know, Lord Wily . . ."

"That's the problem! You don't know! NONE of you sardine recycles know! You don't know that when I ask you to INVESTIGATE something, it mean to go FIND OUT WHAT THE HELL IT IS! I KNOW there's a big bloody scratched up wall that's been there for thousands of years in that cave! I MADE THE FREAKIN' CAVE!"

"Technically," Shadowman interrupted (not the smartest idea, but the record had to be set straight, he felt) "Crashman was the one driving the Skull Driller."

"WHO'S BIG IDEA WAS IT TO PUT A GUY WITHOUT HANDS IN CONTROL OF A FOUR TON EARTH EATING MONSTROSITY ANYWAY? Seriously, who's been doing the chore scheduling down there? I want to see the robot in charge of the chore and vehicle assignments in thirty minutes OR HEADS WILL ROLL! And I'm not talking a few merry rounds of 'boot-the-brain' in the hallway, OH NO! RIGHT OUTTA THE WINDOW, BABY!"

It was then that Iceman decided to peek in the door to see if everything was okay. Wily was too far into his random ranting mood to really notice the diminutive blue Eskimo, and that suited Iceman just fine. He slowly shut the door and turned away.

And ran right into Shadowman.

Iceman looked up into the ninja's face. "Hey . . . aren't you, you know, getting yelled at?"

"Hmm?" Shadowman looked down at Iceman, apparently noticing him for the first time. "Oh, no. He's not yelling at me directly, so I don't need to be there."

"But . . . you were . . . you know, standing right THERE."

"Twas a hologram." Shadowman shrugged, and began to walk away.

Iceman watched him go. "Right."

Things had been tense around the Skull Fortress Mk. 11-7 for a few months now. Wily hadn't been able to formulate any new plans to really put himself in power for a while, and so had rebuilt most of the robot masters in the mean time for something to do. Now that most of the bearable robots (and a few of the Unbearable ones) were back online, they had nothing to do.

Shadowman wandered into the Rec Room, Iceman close behind him. Bombman and Quickman were playing Ping Pong on the far side of the room, being watched by Bubbleman. The couch, which was big enough for four humans to sit comfortable, was currently taken up in its entirety by Hardman, the largest operational robot master (Frostman was the only one that was larger than Hardman, but had never been rebuilt because he always messed with the thermostat. To many people, Wily included, that's just unforgivable.)

Snakeman and Magnetman were busily playing video games on an entertainment system Wily had created to keep the robots out of his hair (what of it there was). The system, known as the WilyCraft, sported better graphics and quicker processing than any other system on the market, and could play all of their games. It gave the robots something to do, anyway.

Crystalman, Brightman, and two Geminimen were playing pool. That was the quiet side of the room, since all of those robots were analytical in nature. The Geminimen were undefeated so far, since the way the game played reflected their own natural weapon, the Gemini Laser, so closely they were able to use their targeting systems and make the cue ball go anywhere they wanted.

Yamatoman was the only other robot in the room, and Shadowman walked over to the samurai robot as quickly as he could.

"Got a moment, Yamato?" Shadowman asked.

"Given that I am alive, and plan to be so for at least another day, I can certainly spare some time for whatever harebrained scheme you have this time, my mysterious friend," Yamatoman replied in a formal, if not somewhat mocking, tone.

"A 'Yes' would've be grand," Shadowman sighed. "Look, we've got orders from the old coot himself. Grab Cutman and Flameman and meet me outside of the fortress."

Yamatoman gave Shadowman a questioning look, but set off on his task anyway. Iceman elbowed Shadowman's hip for his attention. "Do you mind if I come along?" he asked.

"Eh, why not?" Shadowman asked. He began to move again, the Eskimo in tow. "If the old man wants the thing investigate, it'll get investigated."

They walked for a while before Iceman stopped and looked around. "Uh, Shadowman, we're going the wrong way."

"No, we're not."

"Yeah, we are! The exit is on the other side of the building and a few floors down."

"Yeah, that's true," Shadowman admitted, "but Mister Haiku is in this direction."

"Who?" Iceman asked, puzzled. Suddenly, Shadowman halted in front of a door. The door to Forte's private quarters. "Oh."

Shadowman took a deep breath, then knocked on the door. "Er, Commander Forte?"

There was a noise on the other side of the door. There was a shuffling and a banging and a crash or two, and then a muffled "Just a minute!", and then there was another crash, two more bangs, a loud thump, and finally a click as the door opened. Forte's head poked around the corner of the door. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"Lord Wily requests that you lead a small expeditionary force into a cave to find out sealed power may be found there," Shadowman delivered, with a remarkably straight face. Iceman almost lost it, forced to cover his mouth to stop from giggling.

Forte glared at the both of them, then slowly said "This isn't another 'Elevator Test,' is it?" Iceman burst out laughing, and got discreetly kicked in the shin by Shadowman. Forte gave the blue Eskimo a glare. "What's so funny?" he growled.

"Er," Iceman began, formulating an excuse, "Just . . . remembering . . . a naughty limerick."

Shadowman brought their focus back to the matter at hand. "We can leave when you're ready, Commander Forte."

Forte gave Shadowman the evil eye. "I'll be out in a moment," he told them. The door shut, and there was a shuffling sound, like someone was straightening up the overturned piles of paper that were Forte's lamentations over his inability to defeat a vastly inferior foe. A few moments later, he came out of the room, careful not to actually let either of them see inside his room. "Let's get going then."

On the way down, they passed Flashman. Shadowman waved at him and told him that Wily was waiting to see him in the Skull Office. Slightly confused, Flashman wandered in that direction while Iceman asked Shadowman what that was about.

"Oh, It was Flashman's turn to be the schedule guy for today," Shadowman shrugged.

Outside, Forte, Shadowman, and Iceman met up with Cutman, Yamatoman, and Flameman. The six robots, led by Forte, made their way into a nearby cave. The original intention was for someone to drill straight through the mountain the fortress was backed up against in order to fill the stone with a well hidden research facility and expanded quarters for Sniper Joes to inhabit. The Joes were the backbone of Wily's army, comprising the bulk of his expendable troops, and he always liked to have a few hundred on hand. At the moment, however, all Wily had at his disposal were the robot masters, which was why the cave did not go straight. It went down. Crazy down.

Since none of the robot master knew HOW to operate the Skull Drill (it was built for use by the Joes or by Wily himself), they handed the task to Crashman, who's naturally happy-go-blow- stuff-up attitude made him a prime scape goat should everything that could go wrong go wrong. When it did, all the robot masters explained to Wily that it was odd of Crashman, albeit noble, to volunteer for the job.

They arrived at the metal wall soon enough. It still showed the massive crater in its side where Crashman had gotten to before the Skull Driller had run out of fuel (Something else the robot masters didn't think about). Forte put his hand on the wall.

"This thing's old. And hollow," he told them, knocking on it a few times. Shadowman silently rolled his eyes. "All right, Flameman, make a door for us."

Flameman, in his customary fashion, said nothing, but simply went to work. The turbaned robot never spoke at all, really, but many suspected that his original design was made at cost in the middle east, where back-sassing hunks of metal were not appreciated. Simply put, Flameman COULDN'T talk.

The metal melted easily enough, and soon the six robots had a nice hole to step through.

The other side of the metal wall was a dark, dark place. There was very little light, and the robots moved slowly to give their sensors time to adjust to the lower light level. Shadowman was the first to speak, being more at home in the darkness.

"There's a lot of pillars in here . . . " He said, his voice echoing in the darkness.

"Pillars?" Yamatoman asked, looking up, "Or . . . legs?"

Suddenly the lights came on, and a deep, booming voice made the now-blinded robots jump.

"And who might YOU little gnats be?" Megatron boomed.


	2. Sneaky Shadow

Rockman vs the Transformers

"Man, today of all days . . . "

Rockman rounded another corner, leaning into the turn to take it sharper on the Rush Cycle. This chase had been going on for a while now, since Turboman refused to slow down for anything. He had turned into his miniature car form almost as soon as he saw Rockman, and was making his getaway with a bag, no doubt full of stolen goods.

People jumped aside as Turboman and Rockman roared past, the latter doing his best to avoid crowds on his dog-turned motorcycle. Turboman took the opportunity a red light presented and shifted from the sidewalk and onto the busy street of Monsteropolis.

Rockman was forced to follow along side the Wily bot on the sidewalk, keeping hasty track of Turboman with quick glance in between cars while avoiding more people. This kept up for a few dozen blocks before Turboman disappeared from sight. Rockman cursed and wheeled around to find his quarry.

Turboman rocketed into a rather packed parking lot and, once he felt himself well hidden, turned back into his robot mode and looked inside the bag to insure that the contents hadn't been damaged.

He sighed. "Well, the apples will never be the same again, and the bread got a little squashed, but the eggs are okay," he thought. Why was it that no matter what he did, even if it was nice and law abiding, Rockman always assumed the worst. The blue hero probably though it was full of diamonds or something.

"This is why I hate doing grocery shopping," Turboman muttered.

The roar of a motorcycle engine brought him back to the moment, and he slowly stood up to look over the yellow car he was hiding behind. Sure enough, there was Rockman, looking around in the parking lot, his dratted dog idling beneath him.

Turboman crouched low again, barely able to see Rockman. "Why can't he just go AWAY?" Turboman hissed.

After what seemed like an eternity, Rockman left the parking lot, and Turboman breathed a sigh of relief. He sat down again and started sorting through the apples, discarding the ones that were really damaged and keeping the ones that looked like apples.

Suddenly the roar of the engine returned and Turboman looked up. Rockman was above him, having jumped the Rush Cycle off the yellow car. Rockman glared down at Turboman, who barely had enough time to transform and speed away before the inevitable plasma bolt slammed into the ground where he'd been sitting.

Turboman was two blocks away before he realized he'd forgotten the groceries, but he didn't feel like going back for them. Rockman had no doubt searched through the bag already and taken it back to the store.

It was a typical day in the life of a Wily bot, really.

Back in the parking lot, however, after Rockman was long gone, a voice spoke up.

"You okay, Bumblebee?"

There was a silence before a reply came.

"I have tire tracks on my hood, don't I?"

"Yeah."

"Son of a-"

"Did you see that other guy? The one who turned into the car?"

"You're saying that like it's something new and different, Wheeljack. We ALL turn into cars."

"No, no, I mean that he wasn't an Autobot OR a Decepticon. He was a native of this planet!"

There was another silence.

"So?" Bumblebee asked.

This got a frustrated sigh from Wheeljack. "So, if the beings that live here are capable of creating that kind of technology, imagine what else they can do!"

"Build toasters?"

"Hot Rod, bear with me, okay?" Wheeljack asked. "If we made some allies on this planet, they could help us rebuild the Ark!"

"So we could go home?" Hot Rod asked.

"Yes!"

There was another contemplative silence.

"And leave the Decepticons here to run amok?" Bumblebee asked. "Totally unopposed?"

"Er . . . Yes," Wheeljack admitted.

"Optimus wouldn't like that," Hot Rod said.

"Right," Wheeljack sighed. "We'll deal with the Decepticons first, THEN get some help to rebuild the Ark."

"Well, maybe we can get some help against the Decepticons too," Bumblebee said. "You saw the little blue guy. He was packing some major firepower."

"Yeah, but we don't know anything about him," Hot Rod said. "He could be the kind of morally bankrupt person Megatron likes. We have to find out more."

"Well, whatever we do, we have to report back to Optimus first," Wheeljack told them.

"Right," they answered.

A few minutes later found the yellow car, a white race car, and a stylish red car leaving the parking lot and heading north. Each vehicle bore the same symbol, that of a red, robotic face, somewhere on it.

In the meantime, a bunch of large robots with purple, angular symbols were generally beating up on Forte and the robot masters.

Forte had gone down first, stunned by both the lights and the size of the machine before him, Megatron had simply swept Forte aside with one hand, the black robot flying through the air and into the wall next to the hole with a painful clang. Flameman was pouring out fire to try and keep the behemoths at bay while Iceman and Cutman dragged the unconscious Forte out of the hole in the wall.

"We're NOT equipped to deal with this!" Iceman shouted over the roar of the flames.

"What was your first clue?" Yamatoman shouted back, placing himself between the injured robot and Flameman. "Where did Shadowman go?"

"Probably ran away," Cutman grunted, picking up Forte's legs. Working with Iceman, they managed to get him out of the hole and back into the cave. Iceman stood over Forte, and activated his built in Wily Band radio.

"Iceman to Skull Fortress, Iceman to Skull Fortress," he said, talking quieter now that the flames were muffled. "We have come under attack by an unidentified enemy inside the cave. Request the immediate assistance of a retrieval team and a general combat alert at Skull Fortress!"

While Iceman radioed for help, Flameman and Yamatoman backed toward the hole. The flames seemed to keep the large robots at bay, but Flameman was running out of fuel, and they had to leave quickly.

Cutman and Iceman began dragging Forte out of the cave as Flameman's fire died out. There was a momentary silence before the sound of warming laser cannons filled the room. Yamatoman grabbed Flameman and leapt through the hole with the silent robot before the laser beams turned the floor they'd been standing on to molten metal.

Shadowman, on the other hand, had managed to sneak past the initial group of enemies and was deep into what seemed to be a ship of some kind. He watched a few of the large robots move around below him as he clung to the ceiling.

"If the old coot wants the place investigated, that's what he gets . . . "Shadowman muttered. "Gives me the perfect excuse to LIVE for a few more minutes . . . "

Shadowman slipped into a large room (every room here was large to him) and managed to hide in the shadows as another robot walked by. Unlike some of the other giants Shadowman had seen, this one struck him as different somehow. While the others ran around preparing for combat, THIS one seemed calm, even jovial. He was cackling to himself, saying something about how his time had come . . .

A familiar, booming voice almost made Shadowman lose his grip on the ceiling. "Starscream, where ARE YOU?"

"Coming, oh mighty Megatron!" Starscream cried in an all-to-obvious mocking tone. Shadowman could understand a little why he might be disrespectful, since the ninja had to take orders from the brash, showy, and above all incompetent Forte.

As the robot identified as Starscream left, Shadowman looked around. He was now alone in what seemed like a computer room of some sort. Smiling to himself, he let go of the ceiling and landed softly on the floor, cracking his knuckles. It was time to do what he did best: Gather information.

Megatron, meanwhile, was shouting orders.

"Soundwave, deploy your team. They can fit through that hole, and I want those little beings captured!" Megatron raged. Soundwave, his loyal second-in-command and all around silent type complied. Soundwave transformed into his stereo configuration and unleashed six tapes, each one turning into a different robot.

"Frenzy . . . Rumble . . . Ravage . . . Pursue and capture . . . designated objective," Soundwave intoned. "Laserbeak . . . Scout immediate outside area . . ."

Two humanoid robots rushed out of the hole followed close by a black panther robot and a bird. Another bird and a larger humanoid robot were left behind. "What about us, Soundwave?" Squawktalk asked.

"Form . . . Squawkbox . . . and gather the . . . Constructicons."

Megatron laughed. "Devastator can dig us out of this pit and we can get to work finding some energon." He turned as Starscream entered the room. "About time, Starscream."

"Sorry for my tardiness, Megatron," Starscream said a bit sarcastically.

Megatron rolled his eyes. "Just let it be known, Starscream, that after a very long time, we have been reawakened by something. Something very foolish. We will show this pathetic mud ball that we are Decepticons, and that we shall rule over this entire planet!"

Iceman, Cutman, Yamatoman, Flameman, and the semi-conscious Forte were met halfway out of the cave by a Magnetman, Snakeman, Quickman, and Drillman. "We got your message," Magnetman told them. "What's going on?"

"There's some really big guys down there and they tried to squash Forte!" Iceman exclaimed, a little hysterical.

"A shame they didn't succeed," someone snickered.

"Who . . . said that?" Forte moaned, awakening.

"We've got company," Yamatoman broke in, staring back into the cave. Sure enough the sound of larger, heavy footsteps could be heard approaching.

Frenzy was the first on the scene, rushing headlong at the Wily bots without much regard for his own safety. Magnetman, however, was the first to respond, letting loose a trio of magnet missiles that sailed through the air and slammed into the robot. As Frenzy fell down, more from shock than anything else, Rumble arrived and began to pound the ground with his piston arms.

The robot masters struggled to retain their footing, Drillman having the easiest time. In response, the dirt-red robot fired a pair of drill bombs into Rumble's side. "What the-"Rumble began before the drills exploded, throwing him into the side of the cave. As the robots began to make their way out once more, Ravage leapt over the two downed robots and landed on Snakeman.

"GET HIM OFFA ME!" Snakeman cried, trying to hold back the panther robots claws. Cutman rushed to his side and severed one of Ravage's legs with a rolling cutter, helping his green ally to his feet. Ravage growled at them but could not really get up off the floor from where he fell without his leg.

"Let's get out of here!" Quickman cried, grabbing the groggy Forte and making a high speed dash for the cave mouth. The others followed in a disorganized fashion, always checking behind them in case there were more of their pursuers.

As the nine robots got out of the cave and into the sunlight, they heard a rumble below them as something HUGE tore through the cave, chasing them with a fury that even the Gutsdozer couldn't have matched . . .

The Constructicons had formed Devastator, largest and most brutal of the Decepticons.

Wily was listening to classical music in his office when his computer suddenly booted up and began to show information. LOTS of information.

"What in the world . . . ?" the scientist wondered, leaning closer to his screen and watching photos of some alien vessel pop up on his screen, one after another. Some of the photos had a computer screen with indecipherable text on it, while some showed large robots with odd designs, mostly taken from over head. Then, Wily spotted a small ninja star in the bottom corner of his screen and smiled.

"Well, well, well, it appears Shadowman has learned what it means to investigate . . ." He watched more pictures go by. "Still, I can't help but wonder what it all means."

His answer was not long in coming. A general alarm went up all over Skull Fortress, the lights turning a dull red and the windows sealing themselves off. Wily was taken aback by the sudden shift and sat there, slightly disorientated, before he activated the holographic displays on the windows. This meant he could see what was outside the window without the window really being open.

And he watched as a massive purple hand attached to an impossibly large green arm shot out of the cave, grabbed the earth, and pulled up a body twice the size of Gamma with an angry, roaring head.

"Well," Wily said to himself in a calm voice, "I can see its going to be one of THOSE days."


	3. Blues And Sideways

Rockman vs the Transformers

To give the reader a rough idea, the combined Constructicons create a beastly machine known as Devastator. While not the fastest or smartest of the Decepticons, Devastator is without a doubt the most powerful force under Megatron's command. Nearly indestructible, Devastator leads many Decepticons charges into battle, acting as both the unstoppable, wall-rending war engine and the impenetrable barrier needed to safeguard the soldiers behind him.

The rock and stone of the mountain were like Styrofoam to Devastator, who crawled through the cave and pulled himself out into the open air. Standing up to take in the dusty canyon before him, in the center of which stood a massive facility decorated in an odd skull motif, Devastator only hesitated a moment before taking his first ponderous step towards Skull Fortress.

Of course, there wasn't a spy satellite in the world that missed him, either.

Governments all over the world were suddenly glued to their computer screens as they watched eagle's eye footage of the massive green and purple machine. In Russia, a call immediately came through to the house of one Dr. Cossack, one-time rival of Rockman who had since become an ally.

Kalinka picked up the phone. "Cossack residence," she said.

"Kalinka!" She recognized the voice. It was the head of the Russian military, Hilposkov. He was an old friend of her father's, and had supplied him with valuable tactical information and finding with which to start anew in the business of spy equipment. Right now, though, he sounded worried. Very worried. "I must speak with your father immediately!"

Kalinka nodded, which was in retrospect a stupid thing to do, and then called for her father.

Shadowman, on the other hand, was straining to be as silent as possible.

While he'd been snapping pictures with a wireless digital camera Wily had built into his head, the large robot known as Starscream had entered the room without warning. Shadowman had barely hidden himself away in the shadows of the computer consol he'd been photographing, but Starscream seemed a little preoccupied. He was cackling and muttering to himself again, often referring to 'the plan.' Shadowman couldn't help but be curious, and moved slowly to watch the computer screen.

He could barely see the screen, but there were images there of something large. Perhaps a planet, of some sort. He could barely make out the markings along the top of the picture. Moving a little to see more, the planet came into better view. It was large and gray, and seemed to be pieced together. Moving carefully, Shadowman snapped a picture.

And that's when Starscream turned his head to look right at Shadowman.

"Well . . . crap," Shadowman muttered as Starscream grinned.

"Oh, an intruder! How lovely!" Starscream laughed gleefully. "I shall destroy you and present the scraps to Megatron!" So saying, Starscream leveled the laser cannons on his arms at Shadowman and fired.

The ninja robot shoved off of the ceiling and rocketed to the ground as the twin beams of pinkish light carved a molten swathe through the metal. Landing deftly and running away from his attacker, Shadowman managed to avoid the molten rain that splashed down from the new hole in the ceiling. He heard Starscream laugh again, and whirled about in a quick motion and threw one of his trademark shadow blades.

Starscream never saw it coming as the oversized throwing star sailed through the air with blinding speed and sliced the end off one of his laser cannons. Starscream yelled, more in surprise than pain, and fired wildly with his remaining cannon. Shadowman somersaulted backwards, avoiding the laser, and landed on one foot. Spinning around again with his momentum, the ninja unleashed another blade, this one smashing into Starscream's shoulder.

This time, the yell was in pain, and now Starscream was angry. He dived for the smaller robot, trying to crush him, but Shadowman was too quick. Being the first robot to be built with the Kick-Dash or 'Slide' function (a feature Rockman had added to him), Shadowman simply slid underneath the sailing Decepticon and ran for the door with all his ninja speed.

His stealthy intrusion compromised, Shadowman made his way back toward the hole in the wall, but stopped once he found that a horde of the larger robots were already there, waiting to go through a much, much larger hole. They all seemed ready for combat, and many were laughing and talking about crushing the 'puny bots.' Left with no other option, Shadowman began to scout for a new place to hide.

And not a moment too soon. As the stealth robot hid himself away in a cooling vent, Starscream came out of the computer room, pulling the shadow blade from his shoulder and demanding the help of a few other large robots. While they searched for him, Shadowman watched and waited for his chance to escape.

Blues watched the canyon below. He'd found Dr. Wily's latest hiding place a long time ago, before the mad scientist had fully moved in, but hadn't deemed it necessary to divulge the information to his heroic brother Rockman. So far, Wily hadn't done anything yet aside from rebuild many of the robot masters, but even they seemed docile, laid back, and generally at ease.

But now? Some new, almost alien force was attacking Dr. Wily's Skull Fortress. A massive robot that looked as if it was made entirely out of pieces of construction vehicles was making its way toward the building, obviously intending to make it much flatter than it already was. Perhaps it was time to tell Rockman where Wily was hiding now, and request that he save the mad doctor, just this once.

"Incredible, isn't it?"

The voice took Blues by surprise. He hadn't heard anyone approach, and yet, to his left stood a man in a jump suit, wearing a pitch black helmet over his head. A helmet meant for motorcycle riders.

"And you would be?" Blues asked.

"No one important. I'd be asking who THEY are," the man gave a nod toward the large robots that were beginning to come out of the cave behind the green behemoth.

"That would be the question of the day, I believe."

The man chuckled at this. "They are Decepticons."

"Great name," Blues said. "I bet they get a lot of business."

"They rape planets and take their resources. They're little more than pirates. Its disgusting, really, when they could be so much more."

"And how do you know anything about them?"

The man chuckled again. A grating laugh that played on Blues's nerves. "I know what there is to know. I know that two milling years ago, the Decepticon ship, the Nemesis, crashed on a pre- historic Earth. I know that due to the damage from the crash, they ships computer failed to bring them out of stasis. I know that they'd never have woken up," the man nodded toward the fortress, "if not for one man's decision to drill into the mountain that buried their evil."

Blues mulled over the man's words. "You're depressing. Are you a friend of Duo's?"

"I have no idea who that is."

"Okay," Blues shrugged. "So, who are you?"

The man chuckled again. You could almost FEEL the grin beneath the helmet. "My name is Sideways."

"Ah. Well, my name-"Blues began, willing to return the favor, but he was cut off.

"Is Blues. First son of Wily and Light. Prototype of all humanoid robots, or Robot Masters, and only holder of Thomas Light's revolutionary 'X-Engine.'" The man turned to Blues. "Like I said, I know what there is to know."

Blues felt almost violated. Only himself and Dr. Light knew about the X-Engine. It was the piece of Blues that allowed him to be who he was: A roamer. He didn't have to obey the three laws because of the X-Engine. It had been a test to see if a robot that could break the rules would. So far, Blues hadn't killed anyone, but he had disobeyed on any number of occasions, something the three laws of robotics would not normally allow.

"Can you give me one very good reason, then," Blues began, raising his buster up to point at the man's head, "why I shouldn't just kill you? You know I can."

There was a silence and then the man chuckled. The noise itself almost made Blues shoot him. Then, he walked back toward a large motorcycle Blues hadn't seen before, and got on it. "I advise you tell your brother to come quickly, or else those Decepticons will lay claim to Wily's energy generators and have enough power available to them to REALLY go to town on this planet." Without another word, he revved up the bike and sped away.

Blues stood there for a long time, his buster still pointed at the empty air.

"Damn," he growled, and then activated his long distance radio.

"Blues to Rockman. Blues to Rockman, do you read? I have located Wily's fortress, and the old man needs out help exterminating an alien problem . . . "


End file.
